US 2005/0088114 discloses a discharge lamp lighting device. A discharge bulb ballast has a control circuit that includes a turning point detecting unit for detecting a turning point at which a bulb voltage starts rising after switching on a discharge bulb. Immediately after switching on the discharge bulb, a power control unit carries out control in such a manner that the discharge bulb is supplied with first power. When the turning point detecting unit detects that the voltage of the discharge bulb exceeds the turning point, the power control unit supplies the discharge bulb with second power less than the first power.